Visuospatial working memory dysfunction from tapping span test as a diagnostic tool for patients with mild posterior cortical atrophy

Abstract

Posterior cortical atrophy is a rare degenerative condition with prominent visuospatial dysfunction which commonly occurs between ages 50 and 65. A diagnosis of mild posterior cortical atrophy sometimes challenging and can be delayed because there are currently no established neuropsychological examination methods that can easily be used in clinical settings. In this study, we examined whether the tapping span test is a potential diagnostic tool for posterior cortical atrophy and what impairment the tapping span test is indicative of in this condition. Eight patients with mild posterior cortical atrophy were recruited. Age- and severity-matched individuals with amnesic Alzheimer’s disease (n = 9) were also recruited as a control group. The participants were subjected to the tapping span test and several visuospatial working memory tests. The results of the tapping span and visuospatial working memory tests were worse for the posterior cortical atrophy group when compared with the control group. The results from the tapping span tests were strongly correlated with those from the visuospatial working memory tests. The tapping span test is a simple and potentially useful diagnostic tool for patients with mild posterior cortical atrophy, as it reflects visuospatial working memory function.

A Selective Hand Posture Apraxia in an Individual With Posterior Cortical Atrophy and Probable Corticobasal Syndrome

“…Our patient’s Digit Span Forward and Backward subtest scores were five and three spans, but her Tapping Span Forward and Backward subtest scores were only two and zero spans, respectively, suggesting a substantial difference between the Digit Span and Tapping Span subtests, which is a hallmark of dorsal simultanagnosia in individuals with PCA (Funayama et al, 2021).…”

Investigating the Link Between Subjective Depth Perception Deficits and Objective Stereoscopic Vision Deficits in Individuals With Acquired Brain Injury

“…The CAT is a validated, reliable, and Struggling to grasp an object in front of him/her with each hand Perceiving everything at the same distance Seeing everything as if it is at the same distance, appearing flat like a painting on the wall standardized test that has been widely used to assess attentional function in Japan for more than a decade. We assessed these two types of working memory because visuospatial working memory dysfunction, as well as the difference between the two span tests, is closely related to the severity of dorsal simultanagnosia (Funayama et al, 2015(Funayama et al, , 2021, which was observed in patient 3.…”

“…The CAT is a validated, reliable, and standardized test that has been widely used to assess attentional function in Japan for more than a decade. We assessed these two types of working memory because visuospatial working memory dysfunction, as well as the difference between the two span tests, is closely related to the severity of dorsal simultanagnosia (Funayama et al, 2015, 2021), which was observed in patient 3.…”

Shadowing Behavior May Be Associated with an Inability to Recognize the External World: A Case Report of Shadowing in a Patient with Posterior Cortical Atrophy

“…Visuospatial function was evaluated using the Japanese version of the Trail Making Test A (TMT-A) [12]. The span tests, i.e., Tapping Span Forward and Digit Span Forward in the Clinical Assessment for Attention [13], which have been used to assess visuospatial function in patients with posterior cortical atrophy [14], were also administered. Patients with posterior cortical atrophy typically show differences between these span tests, with a markedly short span on the Tapping Span Forward test despite a relatively preserved span on the Digit Span Forward test.…”